‘We’ve made progress’: Proteas women take positives from tri-series

Despite missing out on a place in the final, captain Laura Wolvaardt believes the Proteas women showed improvement throughout the tri-series against Sri Lanka and India in Colombo over the last couple of weeks.

After losing three games on the trot, the SA team bounced back to secure a consolation victory on Friday, beating hosts Sri Lanka by 76 runs in their last game of the campaign.

“Obviously we didn’t have the best start to the series, but it’s nice to finish off with the win,” Wolvaardt said.

“I think scoring 300 two games in a row (in their last two matches) is not something we’ve done in my time with this team, so we’ve definitely made progress and we’re heading in the right direction.

“I think there were a few games and a few moments where we felt we could have done a bit better and I think we could have found ourselves in the final (to be contested between Sri Lanka and India on Sunday) if we were a bit better in small moments.

“But there are lots of things we’re doing right , so we still have a lot of positives to take out of this series.”

All-rounders stand up

Wolvaardt was full of praise for all-rounders Annerie Dercksen and Chloe Tryon, who were the Proteas’ top performers in the tri-series.

Dercksen was their top run-scorer, making 276 runs in four innings at an average of 92.00, hitting her maiden international century on Friday to help carry the SA side to a convincing victory.

“Derckie has been phenomenal in this series,” Wolvaardt said.

“She kept getting better and better in every game, and to score an 80-ball hundred in foreign conditions against a lot of spinners was absolutely amazing.”

Tryon contributed 194 runs at an average of 48.50, including two half-centuries. She also took six wickets, returning 5/34 in their last match of the series and grabbing a hat-trick to help clean up the tail.

“Chloe’s been absolutely phenomenal. I think it’s the best I’ve seen her bat in a very long time. She just looked so smooth at the crease, so organised, and the power she has is absolutely incredible… and she’s been bowling very well as well,” Wolvaardt said.

“So whatever she’s doing at the moment, she must just keep doing the exact same thing because she’ll be a key player for us at the World Cup (in India later this year) if she keeps playing like this.”